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Justice News

New York Man Admits Armed Robbery Of New Jersey Bar, Carjacking, And Violent Kidnapping Of Taxi Driver

NEWARK, N.J. – A Rockland County, New York, man today admitted participating in a December 2015 robbery of a North Jersey bar and the violent carjacking and kidnapping that took place shortly afterwards, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced.

Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta admitted that on Dec. 25, 2015, he and others robbed a bar in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and subsequently fled with approximately $200 in cash.

Afterwards, in the early morning hours of Dec. 26, 2015, Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta and others hailed a taxi in Paterson, New Jersey, and forcibly took the taxi from the driver. Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta admitted that he and others forced the driver into the back of the vehicle and took over driving. Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta also admitted that he and others caused seriously bodily injury to the driver by hitting him in the head with a beer bottle and slicing his throat with a knife before eventually leaving him on the side of the road in New York. The taxicab driver survived.

The kidnapping charge carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment. The carjacking charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for June 27, 2017.

Guillermo Carrillo-Iraheta was originally charged with Wilbur Jonathan Barahona, 21, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, 19, of Suffern, Juan Chiliseo-Vega, 20, of Suffern, Oscar Avalos-Cortez, 23, of New City, New York, and Jostin Reyes, 21, of Waldwick, New Jersey, in November 2016. Chiliseo-Vega pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court on March 21, 2017 to a three-count information charging him with conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act Robbery, carjacking, and kidnapping. He awaits sentencing.

The charges against Barahona, Reyes, Balmore Carrillo-Iraheta, and Avalos-Cortez are still pending, and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Acting U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark, as well as the Ridgewood and Hawthorne Police Departments, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine K. Lou of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.